Baseball history unpacked, August 9

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past, with plenty of the lore and various narratives to follow as they unfold over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along.

Today in baseball history:

• 1905 - Mistaking her husband for a burglar, the mother of minor league outfielder Ty Cobb shoots and kills him, an incident that will be cited as the reason for Cobb’s intense desire to succeed. The “Georgia Peach” will make his major league debut with the Tigers later this month. (2)
• 1906 - The Cubs’ Jack Taylor beats Brooklyn, 5-3, and posts his 187th consecutive complete game, a major league record. The streak will end in four days when he again pitches against Brooklyn. (2)
• 1929 - In Philadelphia, the Cubs roll over the Phils, 12-6, to give pitcher Guy Bush his 11th straight win. (2)
• 1942 - The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-8, in 18 innings at Cincinnati. The Reds tie the score in the ninth, 10th, and 12th innings before the Cubs hang on. Stan Hack collects five hits and three runs for Chicago. Both teams combine to notch 25 bases on balls for the match, and the Cubs strand 23 runners, while the Reds leave 21, a major-league record until 1974. Each team uses six pitchers, also a record. The Reds take game two by a 2-1 score. (2)
• 1946 - All games are played at night for the first time in major league history, four in the American League and four in the National League. (1,2)
• 1963 - Roger Craig’s National League record-tying 18-game losing streak (broken by teammate Craig Anderson) ends thanks to Jim Hickman’s ninth-inning grand slam off Lindy McDaniel. New York beats the Cubs, 7-3. Craig will be on the wrong end of a shutout nine times this year; only Bugs Raymond (11 in 1908) and Walter Johnson (10 in 1909) have had more shutouts thrown at them in a year. (1,2)
• 1971 - The Indians score eight runs in the fifth inning to beat the Cubs, 13-5, in the annual Hall of Fame Game. Earlier, the Hall had inducted Satchel Paige and the seven others selected in January. (2)
• 1976 - John Candelaria became the first Pirate pitcher in 69 years to throw a no-hitter in Pittsburgh by blanking the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0. Nick Maddox pitched the first Pirate no-hitter at Pittsburgh in 1907. Candelaria’s no-hitter came at Three Rivers Stadium. No Pirate ever threw a no-hitter at Forbes Field.
• 1988 - The Cubs play their first-ever official night game at Wrigley Field defeating the Mets, 6-4. Last night’s attempt to play a night game was rained out after four innings. (1,2)
• 2001 - The Rockies defeat the Cubs, 14-5, despite three successive home runs by Sammy Sosa. Winning pitcher Mike Hampton ties the National League record for home runs in a season by a pitcher by hitting his seventh. The major-league record is 9.
• 2008 - Micah Hoffpauir of the Iowa Cubs homers four times and hits a fly out to left field in the ninth inning to fall short of the 85-year-old Pacific Coast League one-game home run record. He is the first PCL player to hit four homers in a game in a decade. Iowa sets a franchise record with eight homers in its 15-3 rout of the Round Rock Express. Going deep are Felix Pie, Matt Craig, Jason Dubois and even pitcher Mitch Atkins. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Bill Campbell, Junior Kennedy, Steve Swisher*, Bob Scanlan, Pat Mahomes, Ben Van Ryn, Jason Heyward. Also notable: Ted Simmons HOF.

Today in history:

• 681 - Bulgaria is founded as a Khanate on the south bank of the Danube, after defeating the Byzantine armies of Emperor Constantine IV south of the Danube delta.
• 1483 - Opening of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
• 1910 - Chicago resident Alva Fisher receives US patent for an electric washing machine.
• 1945 - US drops second atomic bomb “Fat Man” on Nagasaki, Japan, destroying part of the city.
• 1974 - Richard Nixon resigns as President of the United States and Vice President Gerald Ford swears the oath of office to take his place as the 38th US President.

Common sources:

• (1) — Today in Baseball History.
• (2) — Baseball Reference.
• (3) — Society for American Baseball Research.
• (4) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
• (5) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.
• For world history.

*pictured.

Some of these items spread from site to site without being verified. That is exactly why we ask for reputable sources if you have differences with a posted factoid, so that we can address that to the originators and provide clarity if not ‘truth’. Nothing is posted here without at least one instance of corroboration (this also includes the history bullets). Thanks for reading, and thanks also for your cooperation.